IPL 2026: Hardik Pandya penalised for losing composure on field against KKR

Hardik Pandya has been fined 10% of his match fee for breaching level 1 of the IPL's Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials during Mumbai Indians' (MI) away clash at the Eden Gardens against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 20. The star allrounder has also accumulated a demerit point. 

The skipper of Mumbai Indians was found guilty of breaching Article 2.2 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a Match.” 

The incident unfolded on the fourth delivery of KKR's run chase when Hardik dislodged the bails in rage while going back to his bowling mark after getting hit for a boundary. Match referee Rajiv Seth announced the sanction, and Hardik accepted his offence.

KKR sink Mumbai Indians to remain alive in race to the playoffs

Having elected to field first, KKR put up a disciplined bowling effort, restricting Mumbai to just 147 in 20 overs and giving themselves a solid opportunity to chase it down. The fast-bowling trio of Cameron Green, Kartik Tyagi and newcomer Saurabh Dubey set the game beautifully for the Ajinkya Rahane-led side.

Green (2/23) was the pick of all the bowlers. He accounted for Naman Dhir and Ryan Rickelton to put Mumbai under a tremendous amount of pressure right from the get-go, before Dubey and Tyagi also claimed two wickets each. Sunil Narine (1/13) was at his miserly best, conceding just 3.25 runs per over in his spell of four overs.

In reply, Manish Pandey (45 off 33) was the star for KKR during the run chase. Pandey smashed six boundaries and controlled the chase beautifully, adding 64 runs for the fourth wicket alongside Rovman Powell (40) to seal the game. Pandey was adjudged the Player of the Match (POTM).